Many types of input devices exist for performing operations in consumer electronic devices. One type of input device that has enjoyed popularity in devices such as media players is the touch-based scroll wheel. Touch-based scroll wheels generally use capacitive sensor elements to detect the rotational motion of a user's finger and translate that motion into linear (e.g., horizontal or vertical) movement of a cursor or content on a display screen.
For example, if a user wishes to scroll down through a list of songs displayed on a media player, the user can touch the scroll wheel in a clockwise direction to see a cursor move from song to song down the list. Conversely, if the user wishes to scroll up through the list, the user can touch the scroll wheel in a counter-clockwise direction to see the cursor move from song to song up the list.
Accordingly, scroll wheels have proven useful and convenient for certain applications, such as navigation control using a single point of contact (“single touch” input). However, as consumer electronic devices evolve and provide more applications, it can become challenging to design such applications to operate based on the single touch rotational input detected by scroll wheels as described above.